Frontier Goiás, 1822-1889 - Hardcover

by David McCreery (Author)

This book is a study of the development of Brazil's far western frontier during the years of the Empire (1822-1889).

Front Jacket

This book examines the development of the state, the nation, and the economy on the far western frontier of Brazil during the period of the Brazilian Empire. The author argues that the province of Goias, although physically in the center of Brazil, was effectively the far edge of the Empire, thanks to poverty and poor communications. Goias thus provides a useful test case of the limits and effectiveness of nation-building and state-building and of economic integration into national and international economies during these years. The inhabitants of Goias successfully struggled to develop an interprovincial "export" trade in cattle at the same time as local elites negotiated a durable and largely peaceful political compromise with the central government. Smuggling and tax evasion were key to the development of the economy, yet politics remained "pro-government" and largely unruffled by partisan strife until the last decade of the Empire.

Back Jacket

This book examines the development of the state, the nation, and the economy on the far western frontier of Brazil during the period of the Brazilian Empire. The author argues that the province of Goiás, although physically in the center of Brazil, was effectively the far edge of the Empire, thanks to poverty and poor communications. Goiás thus provides a useful test case of the limits and effectiveness of nation-building and state-building and of economic integration into national and international economies during these years. The inhabitants of Goiás successfully struggled to develop an interprovincial "export" trade in cattle at the same time as local elites negotiated a durable and largely peaceful political compromise with the central government. Smuggling and tax evasion were key to the development of the economy, yet politics remained "pro-government" and largely unruffled by partisan strife until the last decade of the Empire.

Author Biography

David McCreery is Professor of History at Georgia State University. He is author of The Sweat of Their Brow: A History of Work in Latin America (2000), Rural Guatemala, 1760-1940 (Stanford University Press, 1994), and Development and the State in Reforma Guatemala, 1871-1885 (1983).